Why it’s so special: A striking new Hubble Space Telescope image released in late September shows a dark tadpole-shaped object in the Red Sea.

What is: The Spirit Nebula (also known as Westerhout 5 or IC 1848) and the star-forming bubble within it

Shooting date: September 29, 2023

Where: Located in the constellation Cassiopeia, in the Perseus spiral arm of the Milky Way galaxy, 7000 light-years from Earth,

This sea – a nebula – a large cloud of dust and gas in space – is called the Spirit Nebula. Specifically, it’s an emission nebula, a bright, diffuse cloud of electrically charged gas that emits its own light, according to NASA. The nebula is red because it emits H-alpha light; This is a result of electrons in hydrogen atoms emitting light as they become less energetic.

Emitted during fall foliage season in the Northern Hemisphere, the image’s bright red light hosts what astronomers call a bubble of evaporating gas. Like all EGGs, the dark, tadpole-shaped Egg in the upper-middle left corner of this nebula is a dense, compact pocket of molecular hydrogen that occurs in star-forming regions, HubbleSite reports. Besides the acronym, there’s another reason for the name “EGG”: These bubbles of interstellar gas are dense enough to collapse under their own weight, forming young egg-like stars that hatch, revealing the babies inside.

However, this Egg, called KAG2008 globule 13 and J025838.6+604259, is different from most eggs. While other EGGs are connected to the nebula, this one is a separate free-floating body (“frEGG”) with a different shape from head to tail. Ultraviolet radiation from stars can make it difficult for baby stars to develop, but the gas in frEGGs and EGGs is so dense that the “eggs” act as cocoons that help baby stars form.

How to see it in the night sky: The Soul Nebula is part of the star-forming Heart and Soul Nebula (IC 1805), a popular deep-sky spectacle for telescopes in the Northern Hemisphere during the winter months.